ACOMA PUEBLO, N.M. (KRQE) – Taking showers and doing laundry might seem like an everyday chore for a household. The residents in Acoma Pueblo are hoping to see a day soon when they can take on those duties again. A water shortage has been affecting their community.
It’s been more than three weeks since Reuben Luther has had running water in his home. “Personally, it feels yucky. I mean in simplest form, it just feels gross sometimes, and I would like to feel clean again,” Luther said. He is one of the hundreds who live in the Acoma Pueblo, just west of Albuquerque, surviving without water after the Pueblo’s main water line failed a few weeks ago.
It’s forced the closure of important places like the health clinic, dialysis center, and school. Luther said it’s starting to be an inconvenience, and while he respects the Governor and Pueblo Administration, he’s frustrated by a lack of communication.
“A lot of people are scared to express it because, you know, it’s our culture not to speak out against our elders. We should trust them, pray for them, and we have been, but it gets frustrating when you don’t see any leadership,” he explained.
The Acoma Pueblo’s governor posted to their main website with an update on the crisis this Thursday issuing a boil water advisory once the water has been restored. The governor told KRQE last week the line was fixed, but we still do not know when water is expected to be flowing again or when it will be safe to drink.
“There are going to be some bacterial samples that are going to be taken, and as we get the results back, we hope that it comes back in our favorable, positive information that is safe to be drinking,” Governor Randall Vicente said.
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In the meantime, Luther is still waiting to hear how Pueblo leaders will fix the problem. “I think going into three weeks, documented that this is not happening, nothing happening, it might be time for a state of emergency.”
The Acoma Pueblo is still asking residents to conserve the little water they have. Updates on the status of the water can be found here.
